Exclusive: Disney Channel Orders New Sitcom Starring Zendaya

Thursday

May 8, 2014 at 11:21 AM

Actress/singer Zendaya (Shake It Up) is returning to Disney Channel to lead the cast of the new family comedy K.C. Undercover. In the series, set to premiere in early 2015, she stars as K.C. Cooper, a high school student training ...

TV Guide

Actress/singer Zendaya (Shake It Up) is returning to Disney Channel to lead the cast of the new family comedy K.C. Undercover. In the series, set to premiere in early 2015, she stars as K.C. Cooper, a high school student training to follow in her parents' footsteps as an undercover spy.

Kadeem Hardison (A Different World) and Tammy Townsend (The Client List) play her parents, Craig and Kira Cooper. The show also features Kamil McFadden (House of Payne) and Veronica Dunne (Our Wild Hearts). Production begins this summer; Zendaya will also receive a co-producer title on the show.

Zendaya spent three years on Shake It Up, Disney Channel's sitcom about two best friends who land a slot on a TV dance show. The actress parlayed that fame into becoming a contestant on the actual ABC reality competition Dancing With the Stars. Zendaya, the show's youngest contestant yet (at age 16), ultimately was the runner-up behind that season's winner, Kellie Pickler.

Next up, Zendaya stars in the Disney Channel original movie Zapped, which premieres on June 17 at 8/7c. She also released her debut record last year, a self-titled CD that yielded the hit single "Replay."

K.C. Undercover reunites Zendaya with creator/executive producer Rob Lotterstein, who was also behind Shake It Up. "I've worked with her since she was 12 years old, and have witnessed her blossom into such a beautiful, talented and funny actress," Lotterstein says.

Corrine Marshall created the comedy. Each episode of K.C. Undercover will center on the Cooper family as they contend with everyday familial issues - while also performing missions to save the country. "This show has all of the Disney Channel attributes," says Adam Bonnett, the channel's executive vice president of original programming. "Family, friendship, humor and heart from the point of view of an incredibly talented and relatable teenage girl."